The Weather Thread

Quick question for everyone. Except for those in the U.S, how common is air conditioning in your countries? Both in buildings and cars. Also, obviously most modern cars come with A/C, but how common is it that people actually use it?

Here in Mexico it's rare to see homes with it if at all. Very few businesses have them and even if cars have A/C people opt to just roll down the windows.
 
Quick question for everyone. Except for those in the U.S, how common is air conditioning in your countries? Both in buildings and cars. Also, obviously most modern cars come with A/C, but how common is it that people actually use it?

Here in Mexico it's rare to see homes with it if at all. Very few businesses have them and even if cars have A/C people opt to just roll down the windows.
Germany not common in House except office / state buildings. We have them in cars though
 
Quick question for everyone. Except for those in the U.S, how common is air conditioning in your countries? Both in buildings and cars. Also, obviously most modern cars come with A/C, but how common is it that people actually use it?
In Ontario, everyone has A/C. You wouldn't be able to make it through the summer without it. In the East Coast, where I was born and grew up, it's not nearly as common.
 
I wasn't too far off then. We've had a couple of REALLY hot days and we just have a fan and open windows. We take cold showers which are actually warm, because it's so hot, nothing... unbearable. We do get to the high 30s celsius. I do want to get a second fan though, one can dream.
 
Does anywhere in the world other the US, Canada, and maybe Australia, routinely have air con in houses? Out of interest, do they have cheap energy?
 
Does anywhere in the world other the US, Canada, and maybe Australia, routinely have air con in houses? Out of interest, do they have cheap energy?
Well I can tell you that a lot of the newer houses in balkan countries have them. Either stationary or mobile ones as it gets close to 50c in the summer in some areas
 
Regardless of actual temperature, though, a lot of parts of the world just don't seem to do it. It might go by type of housing too. I'm wondering if the US and Canada also have a lot of building design that doesn't mitigate for hot weather.
 
The US doesn't give a fuck. It's expensive, whether a window or central unit and energy is high. Hence all the stupid thermostat dad jokes in movies and the stupid idea to keep it at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. To me that's too cold. When I lived in AZ I kept the AC at 75 and the heat at 73. Electric ran me around 60 dollars a month in the summer and gas was about 20, then it would flip in the winter. Including water and trash I was paying about 100 in utilities a month. Here in Mexico my electricity is about 5 dollars a month, water another 5, gas isn't fed through underground pipes, you order it in either small tanks or have a stationary tank filled. I always order the minimum of 60 liters and it lasts me three months on average. The prices in the last three years have flectuated between 25 to 35 to 20 for those 60 liters.
 
I think it would get too expensive for the majority to run AC here, even if it was hot enough outside to justify using it. Gas and electricity cost something like $80 to $120 here in winter, and you rely on less usage in the summer to keep monthly bills plans steady.

Edit: no, it's more than that, that's my share of the bills, two people sharing a house
 
Never mind the financial cost, while AC makes your house cooler it makes the outside hotter. The reason phoenix, AZ is on average 10 degrees hotter than Tucson is AC. All those concrete buildings and streets retain heat. Tucson is more spread out, still quite rural. But condensed urban areas are just fucking themselves.
 
Does anywhere in the world other the US, Canada, and maybe Australia, routinely have air con in houses? Out of interest, do they have cheap energy?
So, in Ontario, the answer is yes. Ontario's energy is 98% from renewable resources, meaning that once you build the infrastructure the costs are low. My kW/h rate is half of what I paid in Nova Scotia, which primarily burns coal. Houses here are heavily insulated, which means that it's a lot cheaper to air condition as the house remains cool once the AC is pumped into it. The inverse of that, of course, is that when a Canadian house gets warm, it will not cool off so easily. I've been inside houses where it's 25, 26 degrees, and outside it is 13, 14, and you can't cool the house off quickly enough before the temp goes back up.

We don't have the luxury of building our houses to shed heat because a lot of those techniques reduce the house's efficiency at retaining it when it's -40.
 
Regardless of actual temperature, though, a lot of parts of the world just don't seem to do it. It might go by type of housing too. I'm wondering if the US and Canada also have a lot of building design that doesn't mitigate for hot weather.

Maybe, many US homes built from the 1980’s onward are of prefabricated, engineered wood construction and heavily insulated. 87% of US homes have A/C

Actually, here’s a helpful map of US A/C usage
 
AC is everywhere in Dalmatia. There is no dirty energy here, only and exclusively renewables. Cooling and heating is run 90% by electricity. Even the gas coverage is limited. My area gets the power from a big hydro system nearby. I don't know whether electricity is cheap or not, because you need that AC to live, there is no other option. The summers are a hell and the winter's windy chill can get right into the walls. You pay the bill and move on.

@Brigantium I have two separate ACs in a 55m2 flat. The original owners were a family, their layout was a lot of small rooms, so they put the extra AC in the corner where the airflow of the main one doesn't reach. I revamped the flat to a open type, still the small AC is better for the bedroom.

That small AC, plus installation, maybe 400e. It's a market here so there are cheap models around, the installation is cheap and the housing policies allow you to mount it on the facade without issues.
 
But condensed urban areas are just fucking themselves.

Very true. When I was a kid summers on a nearby island were not only bearable, but if you're out at night sitting somewhere a sleeve would be mandatory. It's a long way from there to 30(c) and 95% at midnight. Partially global warming, partially microlocation specifics...massive amounts of monolithic concrete or stone and energy systems replacing porous rock, low-density macchia and Mediterranean forest. Subterranean water flows being rerouted or completely shut off by land development.
 
Another hot day. The temperature peaked at 31C in my area but Heathrow was a bit hotter. Apparently there were record UV levels too. Coronavirus is shitting itself.

This morning I did 30 minutes on the exercise bike before starting work. That was really damn sweaty. Then when temperatures started getting high around lunchtime I was sweating just sitting at my desk trying to work. After I had a virtual meeting I finished trying to get any work done and went for a walk in the sun and heat. That was also very sweaty. It's still too bloody hot now.
 
The rains are here, so it's cooled off A LOT and the cloudy days are welcomed. I'm glad I don't officially go back to work until September as I still don't have a vehicle and the rains here are torrential downpours, not fun when waiting for the bus. By september they become light showers.
 
Currently also feeling bloody hot. There are thunderstorms forecast tomorrow and Saturday, and they're needed!
 
Rather a hot day at the home office, +28 C. I'm wearing a bikini top. It's good to have something different for a change, for I've had a nightdress for the last three months when working. :cool:
 
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